What Cats Know
by Tosie
Summary: A fateful night in the life of one vigilante goes slightly differently... Rated T for injury. Probably going to be 3 chapters. Feedback much appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

Smoke billows out through broken windows as flames flicker higher into the sky.

An inferno is roaring, lashing itself against the heavens, and yet the night is silent.

He stands, impassive, the eloquent silhouette of a would-be hero against the blazing nightmare of his failure.

And he watches.

* * *

><p>It's a faint cry, just a thin, high-pitched wail.<p>

To her, it is a baby's scream of terror that cleaves the silent night in half.

She turns, rigid and alert, a fearsome shadow concealed within the inky gloom of darkness.

And she runs.

* * *

><p>The plaintive mewls barely even register, just another background noise in the customary cacophony of night in a city.<p>

The flash of ginger streaking out of an alley isn't noticed either, not with the flaming tongues leaping and twisting all around.

But the banshee's howl that echoes out barely a heartbeat later- he hears that.

He turns just in time to see a smallish blur of red-orange spring forward and leap directly into the fiery ruin.

* * *

><p>More shrieks pierce the air, each one tearing at her heart with tiny, needle-sharp claws.<p>

She bursts into the street, hair standing on end in fear and shock and appearing nearly twice her size.

The feral hysteria grips her and she lets out a screeching caterwaul.

She bounds forward without a thought and dives headlong towards her ignited home.

* * *

><p>For a moment the feline shape is silhouetted perfectly against the blaze, and then the haze of stifling smoke swallows her whole.<p>

**Notes: Rorschach's line "Knew what cats know that makes them scream like babies in night" caught my attention when I first read it. It seems oddly specific and random, but it really conjures up a certain feeling. So the other day when I saw a cat crossing the street at night, a plot idea came to me. I ****really love cats, so I had to write it. The story then became inspired by a cat called Scarlett, who risked her life and got severely burned saving her kittens one by one from a burning building. I was also interested in playing with rich imagery and fancy thesaurus words, but I'm not sure how that worked out.**

**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Walter cocks his head slightly and starts forward instinctively, but the cat has already flung herself into the burning shell of the dressmaker's shop. His brow furrows beneath the mask, unable to fathom why an animal would do something so against its basic survival instincts.

Then she returns, leaping out from what used to be a window, and he knows.

He sees the limp bundle of smoke-blackened fur, and he knows.

He hears the wail still coming from inside the building, and he knows.

* * *

><p>She sets her beloved scrap down just inside the alley she first appeared from, pausing only to give it a rough lick before turning away and practically flying back through the window.<p>

* * *

><p>He just stares for a moment at the smoky building, then wheels around and strides to the mouth of the alley. Crouching stiffly, Walter picks up the kitten in one gloved hand and is relieved to note that it is breathing. He stands and glances around before grabbing a pizza box from a dumpster. The tiny bundle is placed gently on the brown cardboard.<p>

He is sliding his back down the brick to sit when the cat appears once more, another swinging ball of fluff clenched in her jaws. She g ives Walter a sideways glance as she sets it down, briefly sniffing the other kitten as if to make sure he hasn't hurt it. Then she's off again.

He notices that she limps slightly.

* * *

><p>The second kitten seems fine as well, so he merely sits, eyes fixed on the heat-wavering window.<p>

This time, when she leaps out, there is a tuft of fur missing from her tail.

She doesn't seem to have noticed, not with a third bundle hanging beneath her chin. The cat is all business, placing her baby on the box and whisking around to trot back into the blaze.

* * *

><p>By the time she returns again, yet another kitten dangling and mewling helplessly from her jaws, her whiskers appear to have been singed off. The fur on her back is blackened, and she sets her feet down gingerly as she walks, a little more slowly, towards the fiery window.<p>

Still, she holds her head high as she leaps inside.

Unfortunately, she doesn't return.

**Notes: I am so sorry that it has been so long since I updated anything. I've been feeling down lately, and more in the mood to write angsty poetry than angsty ****fan fiction. :P Also, school, and homework. Ugh. But I hope to start writing every day, at least a little.**


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